


binding

by verity



Series: tween wolf [43]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Showers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-14 06:19:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/833714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verity/pseuds/verity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I want to take a shower," Allison says a little later, looking down at her knees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	binding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blue_rocket_frost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_rocket_frost/gifts), [whiskey_in_tea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiskey_in_tea/gifts).



> sorry for the lack of updates over the past two weeks! I haven't been feeling very well, but life is better so hopefully updates will be back to their regular pace now. :)

When she wakes up mid-afternoon, the pillow beneath her head is smudged with her makeup from last night, bronze shadow and creamy foundation.

"I want to take a shower," Allison says a little later, looking down at her knees. She used to have her hair to hide behind when she did this, long glossy waves, but now it's just her averted gaze that hides her eyes from Stiles. He's tying a bracelet woven in brown and grey onto her left wrist; there are two already on her ankles, tarnished silver, all jangling bells. "I'm—"

"Yeah, I know." Stiles lets go of her wrist to rummage in the bag next to him. "Just—I want to do one more, okay?"

The last bracelet has half a dozen shades of blue in a Greek key pattern; it doesn't look like it's ever been worn. Allison starts to feel restless while Stiles fumbles with the complicated knot. When she gives one ankle a tentative shake, the peal of the bells sounds right down to the bone.

"Wouldn't do that," Stiles says mildly. He pats her right wrist before releasing her, and the magic thrums beneath Allison's skin like live wire. It's nothing like the demon, which is either overpowering or dormant with little in between.

"What _are_ these?" she says, lifting her left arm to look more closely at the brown and gray bracelet, which itches like wool.

Stiles gives her a wry grin. "Friendship bracelets. The other ones—those are from my mom."

"Okay," Allison says slowly, because _Stiles doesn't talk about his mom_. "Air?"

"Yeah," Stiles says. "It's stronger, elemental magic—I mean, I guess you know."

—

Her grandfather gave her the second bestiary, the one that's lost now, and he gave her the demon. "Your mother wasn't—she was from outside our family," he said, the night after the funeral, the one that was supposed to be her lone vigil. "There are some things she wouldn't have understood."

It was stupid, the whole thing was, playing with the kind of magic her mother had put down witches for, but when Allison looked at her father after they got the call, all she could see was her grandfather's lips shaping the word "protection."

—

In the shower, the bracelets on her wrists don't dampen beneath the spray, and the bells on her ankles don't chime when she moves. Allison scrubs her scalp with the Herbal Essences 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner that's the only thing in the shower, steers away from the Old Spice body wash toward the crooked, fresh-cut block of homemade soap with lavender and lemon peel in it that Stiles gave her with some complicated eyebrow wiggles. She's not sure if it's supposed to be magic or just smell nice.

She's almost ready to get out when the bindings on her wrists start to burn.

**Author's Note:**

> Friendship bracelets are technically a kind of macrame, so Allison is incorrect about the brown and grey one being woven. I'M SORRY, BUT THIS NEEDED A FOOTNOTE.
> 
> I'm [ladyofthelog](http://ladyofthelog.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


End file.
